The pope says the cruelty of the fighting in the Iraqi city of Mosul "makes us cry, leaves us without words."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday the choice offered to voters in the U.S. presidential election was between "bad and worse" and that harsh exchanges in the debates pointed to a lack of morality in America, Tehran's arch adversary.

Iraq's parliament has passed a law forbidding the import, production or selling of alcoholic beverages.

Kurdish fighters said they had taken the town of Bashiqa near Mosul from Islamic State on Sunday as coalition forces pressed their offensive against the jihadists' last stronghold in Iraq.

Iraqi army troops on Saturday stormed into a Christian region that has been under Islamic State (IS) group militants control since 2014 as part of U.S.-backed operations to clear the entrances to Mosul, the militants' last major city stronghold in Iraq.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said Friday he was confident that Turkey would take part in the operation to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State group.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday the European Union must consider all options to put pressure on Russia and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Russia's defence ministry said Friday that Moscow was extending a "humanitarian pause" in Aleppo until 1600 GMT on Saturday to allow civilians and armed rebels to leave the city.

South Africa announced Friday that it would withdraw from the International Criminal Court, dealing a major blow to a troubled institution set up to try the world's worst crimes.

Israel is seeking to buy three more advanced submarines from Germany at a combined price of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion), an Israeli newspaper reported Friday.

The United States and Saudi Arabia Thursday imposed sanctions on alleged Hezbollah members and financial backers, accusing them of funneling money to the Lebanese militant group or engaging in terrorism.

A UN panel of experts has found evidence of "well-established networks" of arms suppliers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East that are fueling the war in South Sudan.

President Vladimir Putin backs an armed OSCE mission to war-torn eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin said Thursday, in spite of objections by pro-Moscow rebels.

Lebanon's former prime minister Saad al-Hariri announced his support for his political foe, Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun, to become president in a televised news conference on Thursday, a step that may help resolve the country's political deadlock.

Scattered clashes between rebels and pro-government forces undermined a fragile ceasefire in Yemen Thursday as global pressure intensified for a lasting truce in a country where millions are homeless and hungry.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Thursday the offensive against Islamic State in Mosul was progressing more quickly than originally planned.

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan says the number of children killed or wounded in the country's conflict has increased in the first nine months of 2016, compared to the same period last year.

Britain's vote to leave the European Union was clearly a vote to regain control over immigration, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday, adding that she wanted to ensure the country got a good deal for businesses from exit negotiations.

A senior Iraqi general on Wednesday called on Iraqis fighting for the Islamic State group in Mosul to surrender as a wide-scale operation to retake the militant-held city entered its third day.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that Russia ruled out extending a pause in bombing of Syria's Aleppo unilaterally, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.